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| Executive Director Update
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Livable Centers Initiative Nears Final Stages
Following months of intense planning, study and feedback, we held another public outreach event on September 13 to share the goals, vision and findings of the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) at Lilburn City Park's Food Truck Tuesday event! Members of the LCI team attended the event to showcase the draft recommendations, which focus on improvements from to housing to the addition of arts and culture districts, new parks, and updated transit and transportation options.
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The CID received a grant of $120,000 from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and $30,000 from Gwinnett County to create a 10-year vision for Old Town Lilburn and the US 29 Corridor. Our goal is to create a vision that will include upscale shopping and restaurants, beautification and transportation improvements to encourage and support new residential and commercial growth. Once the study is approved by the City of Lilburn and accepted by the ARC, Lilburn will qualify for LCI-based funding to execute the recommendations.
Based on these projects, plus our ongoing efforts around beautification, landscaping, security and mobility initiatives, the Lilburn CID is excited to continue to make Lilburn a great place to live, work and play.
As part of the initiative, LCID created a video to help condense the study findings and encourage even more community engagement. Click the video below to watch!
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If you were unable to attend the event, you can learn more about the plan from the LCI website. I also invite you to leave feedback on the LCI plan through the comments portal on the website.
Tad Leithead
Executive Director
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| Interview with Deanna Murphy - Sizemore Group
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The Lilburn CID LCI study was created with the help of Planning, Architecture and Interiors Firm Sizemore Group. To provide even further insight, we spoke with Deanna Murphy, Director of Planning at Sizemore Group, to get her insider perspective.
“Our expertise is in building upon the existing local and cultural character to create desirable places to be,” said Deanna. “Based on the positive community reception and energy surrounding recent developments to Old Town Lilburn, the focus is really on identifying development opportunities along the corridor and drawing that energy and economic synergy from Old Town Lilburn through the entire study area.”
The LCI study took place within the boundaries of the Lilburn CID, particularly along Lawrenceville Highway (Highway 29). This study updates one completed in 2011 and accounted for changes within the community, market and modern development practices to create a sustainable plan compatible with today’s market and community needs.
“The market is moving fast in metro Atlanta, so the LCI gives the community an opportunity to say what they want in the area – creating a framework - before other, incoming developers impose their plans,” said Deanna. “With an implemented LCI, we can put zoning practices in place to help craft the type of development the local community members envision for Lilburn. We like to let the community guide the process rather than come in with a pre-existing plan.”
Of course, the LCI also creates an opportunity to catalyze development by nonlocal entities and invite change to Lilburn, but still with control exercised by the incumbent population.
“The plan isn’t just visionary, but practical,” Deanna said. “A 10-year plan like the one proposed by the LCI can also attract developers and almost function like a marketing document for the community when seeking investors to make their desired development initiatives become a reality.”
The LCI study also outlines the type and scale of public investment that must happen to implement changes sustainably. Prime examples include proactively identifying critical streetscape projects to support future growth and use.
The community positively reacted to planned improvements to transportation and increasing options for local transit, including road improvements and the expansion of new walking and biking trails.
“To drivers traveling through the corridor, Highway 29 is just a road. But to the community, it’s their home,” said Deanna of the sentiments gathered in the study. “Making that more appealing and easier to get around, and not just by car, is something for which we saw a lot of support.”
To learn more in-depth information about the recommendations informed by the LCI study or to leave your feedback about these proposed improvements, visit the LCI website here.
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| Why Did I Choose Lilburn? New Resident Kathryn Jones Explains
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While Lilburn is loved by longtime residents, our community attracts the attention of new residents as a promising place to live for a variety of reasons. Take new Lilburn resident Kathryn Jones and her family, for example. Kathryn works with the Council For Quality Growth, an organization dedicated to quality and responsible growth in the metro Atlanta region.
Kathryn and her husband are young professionals who moved from Brookhaven to the Lilburn CID in July because their current needs demanded change and Lilburn offered the chance for a more suitable living environment.
“We were desperate for more than 900 square feet for two people and two dogs,” she said. “With the heightened rental market, it just didn’t make sense to move around Atlanta.”
Space is at a premium in the metro Atlanta area. In Kathryn’s opinion, Lilburn is currently positioned as an obtainable place to live as well as a place with the promise of future growth and improvement.
“With the housing market the way it is, it’s an uneasy feeling investing in a home at peak pricing, but I think Lilburn provides both existing value and the potential for increased value as it continues to attract development.”
When asked about the differences between Brookhaven and Lilburn, Kathryn would like to see two main additions.
“There are a dozen outdoor places in or near Brookhaven to take our dogs. Even being ITP, it was easy to find a dog park, a hiking trail, or some area to let the dogs off leash,” she noted.
Lilburn’s goldilocks status – a place that isn’t rural but isn’t densely developed like Atlanta – reveals other wish list items for this new community resident.
“It’d be great to see a big-name gym like LA Fitness nearby and a sizable department store retailer like a TJ Maxx or a Kohls.”
Bottom line, Kathryn sees the promise of the future and believes the area can use its current growth in positive directions.
“I hope Lilburn is able to develop in unison with transit expansion so that it may continue to add economic value to the area and for its residents,” she said. “I look forward to voting for MARTA’s expansion into Gwinnett when the time comes for another referendum.”
Future changes notwithstanding, Kathryn and her family are pleased to join the current Lilburn community.
“In less than a week, we felt so welcomed by everyone we encountered,” she said. “If we had any doubts about making this city our home, they are gone. Lilburn should be proud of its people.”
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| The Intersection Quality Development Conference
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LCID was a Silver sponsor of the Quality Growth Institute’s The Intersection Quality Development Conference on August 11. This event championed the discussion surrounding housing, workplace, mobility and logistics innovations in Georgia and how our area compares to others nationwide.
At the event, industry leaders including KIA of Georgia, UPS, Zillow and Georgia Ports addressed attendees with insights into the industry as the communities in our area develop and change. The event also featured panels comprised of local industry players in construction, real estate and development as well as local government policymakers.
Read the full event recap or watch the recorded video of the event here.
About the Quality Growth Institute
The Quality Growth Institute is an established 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that functions as the education arm of the Council for Quality Growth.
Learn more about the Institute on their website here.
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Connect With Us!
Please visit Lilburn Community Improvement District's website and LinkedIn. For more timely project updates and news, please visit the site and follow our Facebook page and Twitter.
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